Teen Dies after Parents Try to ‘Teach Him a Lesson’ About Drinking [VIDEO]

Two parents in Wyoming are charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly allowing their 16-year-old son to drink himself to death in order to learn a lesson about the dangers of alcohol.

According to the Uinta County Herald, Paulette and Joseph Richardson worried the teen, Kendall Ball, would take after his alcoholic biological father after he expressed an interest in drinking. The mother and step-father reportedly encouraged Ball to throw back shots of Fireball and Jack Daniels for over two hours on July 7 so he would become sick and learn the dangers of over-doing it. When he started to get sick, the two put him to bed.

Paulette told police she got a thumbs-up from Ball when she want to check on him around 11 p.m., but when her husband checked at 3:45 a.m., he found Ball lying cold, blue, and unresponsive, so the couple called 9-1-1.

Tests revealed Ball had a blood alcohol content of .587 - just over seven times the .08 legal limit for drivers.

Paulette and Joseph, who were formally charged on September 8, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors are also considering pressing charges against Joseph Kunkle, a friend of the two who was in the home at the time Ball was being served drinks. Kunkle reportedly told deputies he'd seen Ball drink some Jack Daniels and some beer, but nothing else.

“I am not here to make parenting decisions for people,” Uinta County Attorney Loretta Gerrard told the Herald. “What I hope people understand, however, is that some traditional parenting lore, wives tales or theories don’t apply in an age where we have refined products that accelerate the effect of chemicals on the human body.”

In other words, don't buy into the idea that you can stop your child from becoming an alcoholic by pouring drinks down their throat.